


We Don't Believe in Love No More

by Peryton



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F, Jesse and Beca never happened because what even was that, bechloe - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-29
Packaged: 2018-08-11 11:09:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7889164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peryton/pseuds/Peryton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Beca hasn’t seen Chloe since she graduated from Barden five years ago, and she hasn’t had more than a passing thought about the startlingly-blue-eyed bubbly redhead at all in that time. Well, okay, maybe that’s not quite true. But still, Beca has everything she ever wanted when she was making mashups in her bedroom and dreaming of living in LA producing music, there’s no time in her life for anything else. Then the invitation to the Bellas reunion arrives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Our last dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title and chapter titles are from a song by Lux Lisbon. It’s been done before but hey… I don’t know... I was working on something else that had a song title then thought of this one and it came out instead.

-5 years ago-

“Beca!” Chloe exclaimed launching herself at the brunette and wrapping her arms around the smaller girl knocking the wind from her and sending her stumbling back.

“Oof. Nice to see you too Chlo.”

“Can you believe it? We’re graduating!”

“Yeah, some of us slightly later than others.” Beca winked at the redhead knowing that she had made her peace with leaving Barden and the Bellas; Chloe just grins wider at the tease and hugs Beca tighter.

“I just wasn’t ready to leave all this!” Chloe waves her arms around her and Beca takes in the vomiting Treblemakers and the horrified expressions of some of the new Bellas as Fat Amy threatened to sit on two of them if they didn’t sign a contract that promised they’d hold up the honour and winning streak of the Barden Bellas. Which was slightly ironic coming from Fat Amy as it was but whatever.

Beca sees Legacy hovering nervously nearby desperately trying to make eye contact with someone who would help her corral Fat Amy and thinks she remembers the Australian adding some details about sending a monetary tribute to the past Bellas –sent to Fat Amy to pass on of course and something about weekly pictures of the new treblemakers nude, honestly Beca hoped the baby Bellas could hold out against Fat Amy, who knows what else she had hidden in the ten page contract.

“This would be hard to leave.” The brunette replied dryly.

“But I’ll still have you right?” The redhead said clasping Beca’s hands and pulling the brunette to face her. “You have to promise to call every day and let me come visit when you’re a hot shot music producer. And when you win your first award I best be thanked for the naked singing!”

“Youu betcha.”

“Okay, you have to promise to answer _my_ calls and facetimes. You best not forget about me Mitchell.” Chloe says her grin dropping slightly before perking back up again but Beca could still see the glimmer of uncertainty in her eyes.

“I could never.” Beca says in a rare moment absent of snark and meets Chloe’s gaze.

The two stare at each other, time seems to slow for Beca as she loses herself in the blue of Chloe’s eyes. This is it the brunette reasons, her mind racing, the last night they’re students together. Chloe’s been drinking but she’s still at her regular level of touching, not yet up to the scale of drunk touching that Beca rolls her eyes at and shrugs off whenever they’re around others. Soon Beca will be leaving for LA and Chloe has some interviews for teaching jobs near her parents’ town, if Beca doesn’t say something now she’ll miss her chance; Beca steels herself-

Then two arms are around the both of them pushing them closer together and Beca immediately tenses.

“Bloe!” Fat Amy cheers. “When are you two going to stop pussyfooting around and get that pussy? Only not with feet. Unless you’re into that, which if you are I have a few pictures you should see back from my time in-”

“Ew. No thanks.” Beca interrupts, escaping the forced group hug and standing off to the side, unable to meet Chloe’s gaze.

“Come on aca-bitches let’s get our drink on! None for you Red, you still need to entice the code out of the security manager for me, I have one night to get my career as a Barden cat burglar off the ground and I spent all of Beca’s money on bribing people to get him over here.”

“What?” Beca said her attention snapping back to the Australian once she realised what she had said.

“Don’t worry, your aca-wife won’t have to do too much, just flash those baby blues and do that weird pretending to care what people say when they talk thing you do. I promise her honour will remain intact captain.”

“Co-captain.” Beca mumbled half-heartedly.

“Right. Co-captain with your co-wife. Now, where are the shots I was promised? I have this new idea for a cocktail guys, it’s going to blow. Your. Mind.”

 


	2. Chasing our demons across the sky

-present day-

Beca sighed and looked back out at the artist in the recording studio who was bopping around as though he was performing on stage

“That’s great Justin, maybe just tone it down a little? Do it like we discussed, let the music talk for you as well, don’t drown it out.”

“Yeah, yeah, I getcha.” The artist nodded and went back to doing the same thing he had been doing for the past twelve takes. It was going to be a long day.

What seemed like an eternity later Beca finally finished with Justin and she headed to the break room in search for some coffee to see her through the rest of the day. As much as she loved her job sometimes it sapped everything she had out of her and she found herself wishing for the day to just end so she could go home and wouldn’t have to hold the artists hands or constantly be ready for whatever impossible demand her boss would spring on her with barely a moment’s notice.

“How’d it go in the studio?” her colleague Sara asked knowingly as Beca reached for the coffee maker.

Beca rolled her eyes, “fine.”

“Really? So he didn’t try and get you to ‘throw down some sweet rhymes’ over your music and flirted with you with the skill of a puppy that had just rolled in its own mess and thinks it’s cute?”

Beca wrinkled her nose and raised an eyebrow questioningly at Sara “as always your imagery is astounding, you should write for hallmark.”

“Hey, it’s a well-known saying!” Sara protested collecting her lunch from the microwave.

“Is Mitchell moaning about being given the best clients and free reign on the new production programmes again?” Richie asked snidely from behind Beca.

“Some days the only thing that gets me through the working week is seeing your smiling face Richie.” Beca said flatly. “That and my grammys.”

Beca watched Richie’s face turn red with satisfaction and turned to Sara exchanging eye rolls on the impossibility of Richie still having a job at the company given his general incompetence and preference to moaning about other’s success rather than working for his own before the brunette left to work on songs for a new artist the label had signed.

“There’s no overtime you know.” A voice said pulling Beca from her mixes.

Beca looked at the clock and winced at the time, leaning back to relieve the tension in her aching neck and back from sitting at her desk for so long.

“Then what are you doing here then?” Beca asked swivelling her chair round to see Sara leaning in the doorway.

“I had to fix that mess Richie tried to hand in to Turner. Seriously, Beca, go home.”

Beca nodded and slowly gathered up her things, rolling her neck from side to side.

“You know my cousin still asks about you, she could give you a great massage to help with your chronic over-working aches.” Sara teased.

Beca barely hid a shudder and Sara laughed. “Please don’t. I don’t think I could handle another date with her, I know she’s your cousin but I-”

“Hey it’s fine, she’s a little full on I know. She still tells me about how in love with you she is.” Sara said slyly grinning at Beca’s horror-struck face. “In between dating what I think must be the entire extras roster at Universal by now.”

“Well she did want to get close to the action on the other side of the screen.”

“Yeah.” Sara agreed chuckling as she bumped Beca’s shoulder as they walked to the lobby together. Beca acted as though they hadn’t made contact and busied herself with checking the messages on her phone. “I’ll never get how you manage to get these women interested in your sunny personality.”

“I can be charming.” Beca said bristling at the slight.

“I’m sure. So what’s on the agenda tonight hot shot?” Sara took in Beca’s confused look and elaborated. “Any big dates?”

“Tonight?”

“Or tomorrow if you want to get drunk with me tonight? Me and some friends are going to be at Firefly later if you fancy it?” Beca looked at Sara blankly, “come on Beca you must have some plans for the weekend!”

“Oh. Yeah.” Beca said wondering where the week had gone and knowing she had nothing planned and didn’t want to do anything other than sit on her supremely comfortable couch and watch Netflix in between working on her own mixes.

“So? Shall I tell the bartender to expect one more brilliant music producer to drink his bar dry tonight?”

“Sorry, can’t tonight. Big date and all. You know how it is.” Beca said as they exited the building and she turned away from Sara towards her car.

“Fine, but I want the details on Monday Mitchell!” Sara called to her retreating figure.

  



	3. Praying for the night to come show mercy

Of course Beca’s plans for the weekend didn’t go as… well, as planned. Beca forced a smile at the woman sat across from her at the latest hotspot restaurant in town and wished she had stuck to her guns when Quinn had called to ask her out

She had seen Quinn around her neighbourhood for the past few weeks and Beca had enjoyed the harmless flirting -at least that’s all Beca had thought it was, meaningless banter that both knew wasn’t going anywhere, and that was the only reason Beca had continued it.

Beca didn’t know what it was that made her agree to come out with her tonight, she was perfectly fine being by herself, she had everything she needed with her job and her friends. A relationship was absolutely not on the cards for her, she didn’t have the time or inclination to give someone else what they deserved. And of the few women she had dated since being in LA no one had really brought that spark of interest that would have made the brunette want to pursue a relationship –or even a second date.

But Beca knew she was lying to herself, she had been staring at the walls in her house, going steadily crazy and when her phone had rang she was ready to agree to just about anything to escape from her own thoughts for a little while. Not that this date was really succeeding in doing that Beca thought wryly as she attempted to drag her attention back to what Quinn was saying.

“That was great.” Quinn said smiling coyly at Beca who luckily didn’t have to respond since she didn’t think she could muster the false enthusiasm to agree with Quinn who had looped her arm through the brunettes as they stood outside the restaurant.

Beca carefully extricated herself from the embrace and moved a few steps away from the blonde “Er. Yeah, it was great to catch up with you; it’s getting late though-”

“Late? It’s nine thirty?”

“Well I have to go in to work early tomorrow-”

“On a Sunday?”

“Yup. I have to go in on a Sunday. You know what they say, music never… sleeps…” Beca trailed off awkwardly.

Quinn pouted and leant in to the shorter woman, brushing her hand down Beca’s arm and attempting to hold hands before Beca rocked backwards on her heels breaking her contact with the blonde.

“So I know you have to go home… and probably head straight to bed…” Quinn winked, “but you don’t have to go to sleep right away right?”

“Ah, well….” Beca looked at Quinn and struggled with what to say.

 


	4. Cover us in its sweet, sweet lies

“For Zimmer’s sake Mitchell just woman up and reply to that thing, we both know you want to.”

Beca glared over at Jesse, the two of them had grown closer when they both moved out to LA to pursue their careers, Beca had kind of forgiven him for hitting on her and he had realised he had no chance either with a relationship or at getting the brunette to watch a movie with him and the two had struck up a friendship based on the ludicrousness of some of the people they met in LA and their bosses unrealistic expectations.

Beca picked up what Jesse was referring to, abandoning all pretence of not being focused on it for the hour that Jesse had been over and talking about the latest movie he was involved in the score of. The brunette ran her fingers over the thick card and wondered who had been in charge of sending the invitations out, a reunion sounded completely Aubrey, but the wording… it was so… No. Beca closed off that train of thought and put the card down again causing Jesse to sigh in exasperation.

Beca had found the invitation in a pile of unopened mail, tearing through the post without a thought she had been stunned by the contents of that particular envelope and had called up Jesse to talk about it. Well, she didn’t tell Jesse that was the reason, he knew she had something on her mind though Beca didn’t suggest meetups and she didn’t want to talk about Barden. Ever.

“You know they’re having it in LA so you can go.”

“No, Fat Amy said Chloe was going to be in the area since she’s applying to teach at a few of the music orientated schools in town. There is more of a focus on the arts out here than in the backwater Chloe got her first teaching job. Plus Flo and Stacie are in Vegas and that’s not too far away.” Beca had already had a frantic phone call with the Australian where she attempted to fish for details about the reunion without explicitly bringing it up and trying to sound like she was cool about it all. “And who wouldn’t want to come to LA anyway? We have avocados all year round man.” Beca deadpanned.

“Or Chloe wanted to see you and knew you’d make every excuse not to come.”

Beca rolled her eyes and changed the subject, nodding along to what Jesse said about his job and the latest attempt he had at securing the Gym near him for Team Mystic without really listening. It’s not that she was a bad friend, she hoped not anyway, whenever Jesse called her asking for a favour or to meet up she did-after much grouching and threatening to call in the masses of favours Jesse owed her by now anyway.

She just didn’t want to think about Chloe. Beca had barely spoken to the redhead in the five years since graduation. At first they had talked a lot, texted daily, and the group chat the Bellas had set up pinged constantly. But somewhere in the first few months Beca had stopped picking up Chloe’s calls, had stopped replying to her texts as quickly, and then as often. Eventually a few weeks had gone by and Beca hadn’t heard anything from Chloe and she had told herself it was for the best, that this was what she wanted.

They lived hundreds of miles apart after all, had totally different lives, without Barden, without the Bellas what did they really have holding them together? Beca told herself this repeatedly in those first months with silence between the two of them, and she believed it. She still believed it.

Still… Beca looked at the invitation again, considering everything it meant and brought up the now mostly dead Bellas’ group chat, taking a deep breath she started to type her reply.


	5. Why are we racing to make our heart beat faster

Beca had been hovering outside the door for the past ten minutes, unable to actually bring herself to open it and enter the building. The Bella’s had organised to meet up at the hotel where most of them were staying before they ‘got started on the weekend’s activities’ Beca supressed a shudder at what she knew was pure Aubrey, she didn’t want to know what the ex-captain of the Bella’s had planned.

“Beca!” Stacie waved enthusiastically at the smaller brunette crossing the road to join Beca outside the hotel.

“I thought I’d be the last one here.”

“Well, I had a late night last night, if you catch my drift.” Stacie winked slowly and gestured to her crotch.

“I think everyone on the west coast caught your drift Stace.” The brunette said dryly.

“So you ready to go in or are you having some second thoughts about seeing everyone again?” Beca spluttered, and was about to ask why she would be even the tiniest bit apprehensive about seeing any of the Bella’s again, she was Beca effin Mitchel, but Stacie looked at her knowingly and the shorter brunette sighed and pushed open the door.

“Beca!” That voice had Beca freezing and all thoughts fled her head, Beca was torn between fleeing and never looking back and turning to greet the speaker. Of course Beca couldn’t leave; she was drawn inexorably to turn and took her first look at Chloe Beale in five years.

The redhead was smiling brightly at her and it was like the years hadn’t passed at all, she looked exactly as she remembered, exactly as she thought she would when Beca let her mind drift to her best friend throughout college.

“Beca!” Legacy yelled excitedly, cutting through whatever moment that had been between the brunette and redhead as the younger Bella ran over to Beca prompting the other Bellas to greet their old captain.  

“So girl you gonna hook us up with the VIP areas and backstage passes to the hottest spots in town?” Cynthia Rose asked.

“Actually we have a very strict schedule we need to adhere to.” Aubrey said glaring at Beca as she made her way over to the brunette.

“Aubrey.” Beca said carefully, she wasn’t sure what she could have done to already be on the blonde’s bad side. Chloe made her way next to the blonde and murmured something in her ear that seemed to placate her –after she levelled another glare at Beca anyway. Who returned it with an eye roll before turning to listen to what the other Bellas were saying to her.

“And I can’t visit any spots that might have any of the Oscar selection board or their family members, or anyone from the Grammy committee. For…reasons. Also anywhere that keeps sharks for related reasons.” Lilly whispered, at least that’s what Beca thought she had said.

The rest of the Bellas were crowded round asking Beca what she had been up to and discussing their own lives, Jessica and Ashley were excitedly talking about their new boyfriends –who weirdly sounded like they were the same person? Beca put that unsettling thought to the back of her mind as Legacy eagerly wanted to hear every detail of her life and examine every decision she had made with the Bellas while she had been captaining the group after Beca and Chloe had graduated.

Eventually Beca found herself next to Chloe and she couldn’t think of a reason to make an excuse to talk to someone else, and she wasn’t sure why part of her wanted to do that –and no part of her wanted to analyse the reason behind that right now.

“So how’ve you been?” Chloe asked her eyes glancing over Beca and the brunette coloured slightly when she realised the redhead was subtly checking her out.

“Oh you know, fine.”

“Fine.” Chloe scoffs. “I don’t think ‘fine’ really encapsulates award winning music producer living the dream.”

“Yeah well… dreams are always silly when you talk about them in the daylight.”

“Are you okay Becs?” Chloe asked concerned.

“Yeah, sorry. Just stuff at work getting me down, bosses being dicks and all that, you know.” Beca said shaking off the lingering melancholy that had mixed with the elation of seeing the redhead again leaving Beca conflicted and nauseous.

“Still, LA though, that’s gotta be pretty great, and you’re an award winning music producer now, I bet you’re having to beat girls away with a stick. Unless there’s someone special?”

“Nah.” Beca shrugs noncommittally and Chloe’s eyes narrow with something Beca can’t decipher.

“You’ve not let your natural grumpy-cat unsociable habits turn you into a recluse I hope? That’s too cliché for you, are you at least going on many dates?”

“Oh, you know, some.” Beca catches the twinge of hurt in Chloe’s eyes and feels an answering pang in her chest.

“Come on aca-bitches! We’re not sticking around here all day I’ve got a fun-filled fill-you-with-drinks weekend planned!” Fat Amy said pulling Beca’s attention away from the redhead.

“I have planned this weekend in extreme detail actually” Aubrey interrupted Fat Amy, “and I’m sorry but there just isn’t time to do anything off schedule.”

“Yeah, I saw your timetable and decided to mix it up a little, so I called and cancelled your reservations and made a few of my own.” Fat Amy said casually, Beca watched with interest as Aubrey’s face took on the tightness before she exploded, but Chloe was at her friend’s side in an instant, one hand on the blonde’s arm and one on her back as she managed to calm Aubrey before she said anything more on the matter.

Beca watched with a strange feeling growing in her stomach as she watched the two women, it was nice that Aubrey and Chloe had managed to remain such close friends she thought. Aubrey had turned her corporate camp retreats into a franchise and Beca knew she was often rushing around the country dealing with the problems that came with running an empire.


	6. Show me your scars and your broken heart

“This has been fun right?” Chloe sits down next to Beca glass in her hand, Beca notices it’s a different colour cocktail than the one she had seen her with earlier. And judging by Chloe’s giggling the redhead is less than sober; god knows how many drinks she’s had before she came to sit on the outskirts of the club with Beca.

“Yeah it has.” Beca agrees looking out over the Bellas who are still busting their moves on the dance floor. Beca winces as Stacie pulls off a strange half yoga half god knows what move grinding up on a group of people who all looked equally terrified and turned on.

“You didn’t answer my calls.” Chloe said quietly bringing Beca’s attention back to her with a jolt.

“I- I did.”

“Some yeah, not all though. Or most, really, by the end. I know you were busy with your new job… and your new friends… but I thought we-”

“Chloe I’m sorry, I really am. It was just- I’m not good with, you know, talking about stuff. Making friends. I thought maybe it would be easier on us -on me- if I didn’t have to miss you once we… couldn’t see each other a lot, you know? And if I wasn’t always comparing the new people I met to you.”

“And was it?”

Beca looked at Chloe, the lightness that she was so used to seeing in the bubbly redhead’s usually joyful and sparkling blue eyes had vanished and Beca felt something clench inside her.

Chloe took Beca’s inability to reply as her answer and wiped away a tear “I missed you Becs. I still miss you. It’s so funny I always thought-” Chloe cuts herself off and Beca wishes more than anything she could erase the hurt in Chloe’s eyes.

“What? What did you always think?”

“That we would end up together.”

Beca is stunned by Chloe’s words, she opens her mouth to pass it off as a joke or deflect it the way they always had whenever anything had got too serious in the past at Barden but she couldn’t, she didn’t know what to say.

Chloe watches Beca with weary but hopeful eyes, but when Beca doesn’t say anything, or move frozen in shock, the redhead turns away again, what little hope she had dying in her eyes.

“It’s stupid right? I mean, we had our chance back at Barden, if showing up naked in your shower didn’t do it what was I still hoping for? But I loved you. Back then.” A silence stretches out between the two of them only for Chloe to break it “That’s not true,” Chloe said glancing over at Beca who was still unable to speak. “I don’t know why I’m even lying anymore.” Chloe laughed humourlessly, “It’s not like anything I say will change anything. I still love you, I think I always will.”

Beca didn’t know what to say, a part of her said that Chloe was too drunk to take anything she was saying seriously now but the rest of her said Chloe never got too drunk to not mean what she said, and did Beca really not know this, all the years of Barden, the flirting and touching and the wishes for more experimentation? Chloe wasn’t exactly subtle.

Aubrey spotted Chloe and Beca alone together, and Chloe’s less than happy expression and strode over angrily pulling the redhead while away scowling at Beca. Beca didn’t respond to Aubrey, she was too stunned by what Chloe had revealed, trying to figure out what had just happened.

The rest of the Bellas quickly spotted Bella alone at the side of the club and the brunette was soon distracted from her thoughts by catching up with the rest of the women she hadn’t seen in years, and if she drank a little more than she otherwise would have to keep herself from dwelling on what the redhead had told her, and to silence that voice that told her she should track Chloe down from wherever Aubrey had taken her then who was to know.


	7. Nothing you already have is enough or will ever be enough

“So how was your weekend?” Sara asked watching the brunette walk into the break room, sunglasses still on her face and making a beeline for the coffee machine.

“Good actually,” Beca replied, turning round once she had filled her mug with coffee and leaning back against the counter. “Some old friends were in town and we hung out, I drank way too much for someone who has to come to work and listen to music all day, it was good to see them all again though. They haven’t changed at all.” Beca said smiling in remembrance.

“Wow.”

“What?”

“Well it must have been good, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile like that since you’ve worked here. Even when the first album you worked on got a Grammy nomination. Hell, even when you won your first Grammy.”

“It’s not that big a deal.” Beca said brushing Sara off.

“So who were these old friends? And why didn’t I get an invite to meet the people who can bring you out of your perpetual grumpy-cat phase?”

Beca’s smile vanished as Sara’s words took her back to Chloe saying something similar, she hadn’t seen much of the redhead after… after their talk. And when she had seen her Aubrey seemed to be actively making sure Beca wasn’t anywhere near the redhead. Beca hadn’t thought much of it at the time, to be honest she’d been glad she didn’t have to deal with what Chloe had told her, but now she felt like no matter what Chloe had said, the awkwardness her declaration had caused the brunette wasn’t equal to how much she wished she could have spent some more time with her, like they would have back at Barden.

“Just people from college.” Beca said leaving to go to her office.

Beca pushed through the front door and threw her keys down before collapsing onto her sofa, lacking the energy to even toe off her boots. Her headache had been steadily growing while she had been at work until the point when she had told her boss she was going to work on some tracks she had left at home.

Beca sits at home staring at the walls, with nothing to distract her she can’t help but think about what Sara said to her, about what Chloe had said. The brunette has everything she thought she wanted back when she was at Barden singing with the Bellas, she has her dream job, she lives in LA, and she’s won awards for her work and her boss although can be overly demanding and sometimes shutting down some of Beca’s ideas they recognise potential in Beca and give her more control over her work than a lot of her colleagues.

So why doesn’t she feel like this is enough? Or that she has this irritating feeling, the nagging voice at the back of her mind that she can’t always drown out with work that something is missing? Beca thinks back to when one of the albums she had worked on was first nominated for a Grammy, or when she actually won one. The brunette hadn’t spoken to Chloe for a year or so by this point yet she remembers that the first person on her mind, the only one she really wanted to call, was the redhead.

Beca moves her gaze from the wall to her phone and after a long moment of deliberation she opens up her message app, Chloe’s contact is way down her phone, hidden beneath the few people she actually texts on a semi-regular basis, numerous takeaways and work colleagues she can barely stand and tries to avoid whenever possible is the woman who probably knows her best and who professed their love to her.

Beca picks up her phone again and clicks through her contact list, when she reaches the number she wants the brunette takes a deep breath before pressing call.


	8. When I look into their eyes then I get my answer (we don't believe in love no more)

“So she said she was in love with you?” Sara asked breaking the silence that fell after Beca had told Sara and Jesse what had happened over the weekend with the Bellas.

“Yeah.” Beca replied dully, she had thought telling her friends would make her feel better about her decision but she couldn’t shake the feeling she was missing something.

“Well that’s nice.” Sara added.

“What?”

“Well, I mean anyone telling you they love you is kinda nice isn’t it? And for all these years? That’s-” Sara caught Beca’s eye and stopped abruptly. “Right. Shutting up now.”

“It was crazy, we haven’t seen each other in five years, who says something like that after five years?”

“Chloe and you always did have that weird relationship vibe at Barden.” Jesse said contemplatively.

Beca glared at her friend and Sara looked over interestedly, “Oh really?”

“Yeah I mean, me and Becs weren’t that close back then, I hit on her-”

“In a douchey way.” Beca interrupted.

“My techniques for wooing the ladies had yet to be refined that’s true. But I soon realised that with Chloe around no other guy or girl was going to stand a chance of getting your attention I backed off, and no one did did they?”

“No one else did what?” Beca asked annoyed.

“No one else ever caught your attention; you didn’t date anyone else in college did you?”

“Saying ‘anyone else’ implies that me and Chloe dated.” Beca said grumpily.

“Who did you hang out with after class doing nothing, or on the weekends? Who helped you get out of your funk when you had a bad day or would listen when you moaned about your dad for hours?”

“Those are all things friends would do. And all the Bellas did that, not just Chloe.”

“Did the others make you feel as good as Chloe did?” Sara input.

“Hey, you weren’t even there.” Beca protested at Sara’s examination of her college years.

“Okay, who got in a shower with you and sang her lady jam naked with you?”

“Oh my god that was one time. And we didn’t even know each other then.”

“Wow. I can’t imagine you letting anyone getting away with that. Or ever speaking to them afterwards, let alone becoming best friends with them.” Sara said.

“That’s just who Chloe is,” Beca said shrugging, “the flirting and the touching and the complete lack of personal space, she was able to break down the barriers I had –” Beca took in the sceptical looks from Jesse and Sara “Okay, the barriers I still have, but she knew when to give me space and when to make me be sociable with her, even if it was just us two hanging out in my dorm, her listening to me making mixes. She couldn’t be more different from me on the outside, but she gets me."

The group lapsed into silence as Beca’s friends took what she had said in and Beca frowned thinking over everything that had happened since she had shut Chloe out of her life, how she had felt compared to how she had been with the bubbly redhead in her life.

“I’ve made a terrible mistake haven’t I?” Beca says looking at Sara who looks pitying and worried at the brunette, but when Beca switches her gaze to Jesse the fellow Barden alum nods empathetically

“Yes.”

“Oh gods.” Beca groans slumping against the wall, “now what am I going to do?”

“Isn’t she going to be flying back today?” Jesse asked.

“Yeah.” Beca said mopily glaring down at her battered converse.

“So…?” Jesse prompted.

“So I’ll never see her again until the Bellas ten year reunion and she’ll have some gorgeous partner and probably a gaggle of adorable redheaded happy children and I’ll have messed up my life because I missed my one chance.” Beca bit out frustrated.

Sara and Jesse glanced at each other, both used to Beca’s negativity but not with this level of personal sharing.

“Or you could go to the airport before she leaves?” Sara suggested.

Beca’s eyes flew open and she straightened up, pulling her phone from her pocket and searching through the contact list.

“Aubrey what time is Chloe’s flight?”

“I’m not telling you anything to do with Chloe Mitchell.” Aubrey’s voice came through the phone’s speaker the cold tone making Jesse and Sara exchange uncomfortable glances.

“Aubrey I’m not screwing around here, I need to know when Chloe is going to be flying out.”

“Why? So you can break her heart again? She’s spent five years trying to get over you, god knows why she can’t, and now-”

“Posen!” Beca shouted, shocking Aubrey into silence, “I’m sorry about –well, about everything. I know I can never make it up to Chloe but I’d really like the chance to at least try.”

“And how will you do that Mitchell?”

“I guess I’d tell her that I miss her, that I need her, that nothing has been the same or anything matters without her, because I love her, I think I always have.”

Beca waited, tension mounting as she waited for Aubrey’s response.

“She’ll be at the airport now. Her flight’s in forty minutes.”

Beca looked over at Jesse and Sara “Go.” Sara said, Jesse nodded excitedly and Beca took off, not waiting to see what else her friends had to say.

Beca rushed through the airport frantically checking the departures board to see which gate Chloe was leaving from. She spotted a glimpse of red hair in the crush of people waiting for the flight and raced over,

“Don’t go!”

“Beca?” Chloe said turning round, a look of confusion on her face as she spots Beca.

“Stay.”

“What? I have to-”

“You’ll have got one of the jobs you’ve interviewed for, hell you’d have got all of them; they’d be stupid not to hire you, to let you go.”

“I still-”

“I was stupid to let you go.” Beca said meeting Chloe’s eyes, trying to convey everything she was having trouble saying to the redhead.

“Becs?”

“Chlo I… I love you.”

“You don’t have to say that Beca, I know I… came on strong, or too late, or whatever.” Chloe smiled sadly, “we can still be friends.”

“I don’t want to be friends.” Beca bit out, seeing the look of hurt on Chloe’s face and realising what the redhead had heard, “no, that’s not what I mean.” Beca sighed in frustration, “I’m so bad at this.”

“Beca, really, it’s fine. My flight’s about to board I should really-”

The brunette pushed forward and kissed the redhead, there was no response for a second and Beca panicked, maybe Chloe had been too drunk when she had told her, maybe it wasn’t real it was just the alcohol talking. Then hands wrapped themselves around the brunette’s waist and pulled her flush to the redhead’s body and Chloe was returning the kiss, making Beca feel lightheaded.  

“I never did thank you for the naked singing did I?” Beca said when the two broke apart and Chloe rested her forehead against the smaller woman’s and Beca couldn’t help but smile when all she could see was Chloe’s wide grin.

“Did you mean it?” Chloe asked, her eyes searching Beca’s and Beca could hear the nervousness in her voice.

“Every word.”

“So what does this mean now?”

“Well… I kinda wasn’t kidding about you staying –if you want to that is. I mean, you’re going to need to look for a place round here anyway right when you hear back from the job offers.”

“You’re really so certain I’ll get an offer?”

“Of course.” Beca said shrugging and missing the way Chloe’s eyes shined with happiness at the brunette’s confidence in her. “And I can help with that, I know some good places.

“Oh yeah?” Chloe teased, “these places wouldn’t happen to come with a grumpy roommate would they?”

“No.” Beca said offended and Chloe’s smile dropped slightly before she linked hands with the brunette and kissed her impulsively on the cheek. “I thought we were done being roommates.” Beca continued. “I was kind of thinking of looking for somewhere else for myself anyway, somewhere bigger maybe.”

“With a pool?” Chloe asked excitedly, bouncing up and down on her heels.

“If you want.” Beca said feigning casualness but failing to hide the grin that was stretching her lips.

Chloe leant forwards again and what started as a teasing kiss quickly turned passionate, Beca’s hands threaded through Chloe’s hair and the brunette marvelled at the softness of the red locks, but nothing could compete with the overwhelming rightness of finally being with Chloe.

The two were knocked apart by an annoyed looking business man who muttered something about long goodbyes and blocking the corridors, Beca glared at his retreating form until Chloe tugged on her hand pulling the brunette’s attention back to her and erasing the frown and all thoughts of the rude stranger from her head.

“So… you’ll stay?” Beca asked tentatively.

“I’ll stay.” Chloe said grinning before a crackling over the tannoy had her looking at her now closed gate in surprise. “Shit, my bag’s already gone through.”

“It’s fine,” Beca said waving her hand dismissively “I’ll get Aubrey to ship it back to us.”

“You, what- Aubrey? Maybe I should ask her, she’s not exactly your favourite person right now.”

“I think we had a breakthrough.”

“Really? I think I need to hear this story.” Chloe said grinning at Beca as the brunette led her back out the airport and opened the car door for her.

“Sure, we’ve got the time.” Beca said flipping her sunglasses down onto her head to the sound of Chloe’s laughter and feeling her own smile widen as she drove them away from the airport.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [We Don't Believe In Love No More by Lux Lisbon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igyhFm8xls8)
> 
> It's a great song, and a great band. Kudos to any band with a literary name I say! (tries desperately to think of another band named after a literary character, I can only think of Sweet Billy Pilgrim, points for any others you know?) 
> 
> Hmnh endings, I find endings very difficult, there should be something that you know is an ending right? -other than the lack of more words I mean, I don't think I hit on that very often. Also a slight hint of Notting Hill in this ending, i thought about having more of it with the hurried driving part but I've never been to America let alone LA and don't think I could describe driving over there without accidentally mentioning a roundabout or something else British. 
> 
> I’m on the Tumblr- PerytonsShadow if you want to tell me of other bands with literary connections, or complain about how Jesse is clearly shoehorned in to the Beca-Chloe love story.


End file.
